Clueless About Web Analytics?

As a marketer, I understand the need for metrics. The lack of measurement is detrimental to any business and analytics is a great way to gain insight into your business, learn about how customers are navigating through your website, and make better decisions based on that.

However, I’m not a big fan of numbers, statistics or data analyst. It’s fascinating in some ways, no doubt, but I’ve never been good with numbers, graphs or data. My strengths have always been in the area of writing, so I sometimes find seeking useful information from Google Analytics astronomically daunting. Seriously, how do I make sense of the infinite reams of analytics data?

It’s overwhelming, isn’t it? My advice, take it a step at a time. I’ve learnt that it’s possible to figure all of it out, but it takes time and practice. And with time, I’ve figured out some basics that is useful for anyone who’s diving into a pool of analytics data but haven’t a clue how to swim.

Traffic SourcesKnowing whether or traffic is coming from Google, Yahoo, Twitter or Facebook is going to help you decide where and how to promote your content subsequently.

Bounce Rates
Bounce rates are often an indication of how well your webpage is doing. The lower the bounce rate, the better it is. If your bounce rate is high, your webpage needs changing to lower the bounce rate.

Unique VisitorsUnique Visitors is the metric of measuring people. Measuring this against other metrics, such as time, traffic sources, and bounce rates, can provide insight into visitor behaviour and whether your website is working for you, and how to refine it better.

Visitor PathsA Visitor Path is essentially the click path a visitor takes navigating through your site. It begins with the entry page, and ends at the exit page. It’s helpful to understand this because it helps you assess the usability of your website and understand user behavior, which is valuable information when you’re trying to create a funnel that will eventually lead to a conversion, that is, when a visitor signs up for a service you provide, or purchases your product.

Conversion RateUltimately, what matters is meeting your goal, and conversion rates are exactly that – whether you’re meeting your goals. If you are a non-profit, a goal would be for a visitor to donate, and when that desired action has been taken, your conversion rate improves. If you are providing a spa service, the goal and hence conversion rate to measure would be when a visitor signs up for an appointment.

Don’t let your fear hold you back. Analytics is pivotal in this day and age for any marketer, and we’re all learning, so if you haven’t started on analytics, get on it now. After all, as E-commerce Times so aptly stated, “The value of Web analytics solutions is not in their ability to collect data, but to measure customer behavior which provides a basis for replicating success or driving change.” The wonderful thing about Analytics is the capacity it gives to marketers to drive change for the better.